Rackspace® Hosting has announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire ObjectRocket, a MongoDB database as a service (DBaaS) provider. With ObjectRocket’s open source-based MongoDB solution, Rackspace will broaden its OpenStack-based open cloud platform to offer customers a NoSQL DBaaS. The ObjectRocket offering also immediately expands Rackspace’s capability to help customers shoulder big data in the cloud for today’s most demanding applications. The acquisition will close today.

According to a report from The 451 Group, “NoSQL software revenue is expected to grow at a CAGR of 82% to reach $215 million by 2015.” With the acquisition of ObjectRocket, Rackspace will establish a strong presence within the high growth, NoSQL database market. The ObjectRocket offering will be available in early March for Rackspace customers in its Chicago facility and will soon be deeply integrated across Rackspace's Open Cloud portfolio. ObjectRocket also leverages AWS Direct Connect to provide low latency and free bandwidth to AWS customers and will continue to be sold as a standalone service.

“Databases are the core of any application and expertise in the most popular database technologies will be critical to us delivering Fanatical Support® in the open cloud,” said Pat Matthews, senior vice president of corporate development at Rackspace. “As we look to expand our open cloud database offering into the MongoDB world, we are really excited to work with the entrepreneurs and engineers at ObjectRocket.”

ObjectRocket’s platform is specifically architected to provide an easy-to-use, consistently fast and scalable MongoDB environment. The platform also offers best-in-class features, which include:

  • Highly Available – Each instance resides on multiple redundant pieces of infrastructure, while databases are replicated and optionally exist in multiple geo-diverse data centers.
  • Automatically scalable – ObjectRocket’s RocketScale™ technology inherently shards instances, enabling developers to automatically provision and manage instances. Customers can choose from a variety of plans to fit their workload – from one gigabyte to multi-terabyte scale.
  • Consistently fast performance – The complete stack has been optimized specifically for MongoDB applications. The network stack, file system, OS kernel, and other resources have been configured to make MongoDB as fast as possible. All data is stored on redundant, blazing-fast Solid State Drives. During internal performance benchmarking tests: ObjectRocket produced a consistent latency of 2ms, which is 10X faster than the closest DBaaS competitor; ObjectRocket met all target throughputs, up to 10,000 ops per second, which is three times the rate of the nearest DBaaS competitor
  • 24x7 fanatical support – ObjectRocket owns and controls the entire stack, allowing for greater visibility into potential platform issues and faster resolution. With ObjectRocket, every customer receives 24x7x365 fanatical support.

“As the inventors and leading developers of MongoDB, 10gen is pleased to support Rackspace and their customers in the launch of Rackspace’s first non-relational database as a service product,” said Max Schireson, CEO of 10gen. “We think the market will be excited to see Rackspace deliver a NoSQL DBaaS offer based on MongoDB, the most popular NoSQL database.”

The ObjectRocket founding team collectively brings more than 50 years of experience in scaling large data systems, including MongoDB. They have also designed and managed systems that power some of the busiest sites on the web, and played key founding development roles at companies like Shutterfly, PayPal, eBay and AOL. Co-founder Kenny Gorman has also been recognized as a MongoDB Master, which is a designation awarded by 10gen to only 35 MongoDB core contributors and community evangelists around the world.

“ObjectRocket is thrilled to join the Rackspace family. With Rackspace’s open cloud philosophy and our shared emphasis on providing the highest level of customer support, we feel this union is an ideal fit,” said Chris Lalonde, co-founder and CEO of ObjectRocket. “Since the beginning, our focus has been on creating a DBaaS platform that would perform, scale and support critical workloads in a superior manner. Joining forces with Rackspace will enable us to achieve this goal, while delivering one of the most advanced MongoDB DBaaS solutions on the market.”